Etsy Handcrafts

About Me

As soon as I picked up a pencil and crayons, I began to draw and create. As an adult, my skills punctuated every job: displays when I served as a retail store manager; diagrams and graphics in a high tech firm; and graphics and logos as a small business print consultant. Now that I am a retired senior citizen, I am returning to the fun and freedom of creating like I did when I was a child.

Followers

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Daisy Towel Holder

Introduction:I had been thinking about crocheting some towel toppers for
a long time. I even started one but I wasn’t satisfied and ripped it out. Then
I saw some photos of simple towel holders that piqued my interest and I decided
to design one that really suited me. So here it is, the Daisy Towel Holder—fun and easy to make.

What’s nice about these
towel holders is that they are separate from the towels. You slip a towel through the elastic ring to easily remove a towel to wash or switch to a different one.

One of the reasons that I
was dissatisfied with the crocheted towel topper I had started was that
a normally-sized kitchen towel was too large for a crocheted top. It hung down too low on my kitchen cabinets but with this towel holder, the towel is doubled and hangs perfectly.

Yarn: You will need some medium density (size 4) cotton yarn in two
colors: one for the main body and one for the little daisy-like flower. This is
a great project to use up small balls of cotton yarn. A golf ball size will
make up the main body; even less is needed for the flower.

Hook: G hook (4mm)

Button: A button about an inch across (2.5 cm) works perfectly for the
center of the flower. Slightly smaller or larger will do just fine, too.

Embroidery thread: Select the same color embroidery thread as the button for a
good match.

Ponytail/hair elastic: Find a sturdy pony tail
elastic about 2 inches across (5 cm). Using one of these elastics makes an ideal, stretchy ring to hold a towel.

Needles: Tapestry needle (large blunt needle) and a fairly large-eyed,
pointed needle for sewing on the button with embroidery thread.

Okay, let’s get started.

Main body

Leaving a yarn tail of about
3-4 inches, sc around your ponytail elastic filling it up with nice, uniform
stitches. I had a whole package of ponytail elastics so I matched the yarn
with elastic. This way, even if the ring is stretched and there was slight
separation between stitches, the color stays uniform.

If you are using a similar
size ponytail elastic, your sc total might reach between 40–45 sts.

Row 1: Ch a long chain to measure about 5.5 inches (14 cm)—about 24
sts. The st count is less important than the length.

Row 2: Starting in the second ch from hook, hdc the length of the
chain down to the elastic ring. Sc into the top of the nearest sc on the
elastic ring. Sc into the next st. Turn.

Row 3: Hdc along the body of the holder to the end. 2 ch. Turn.

Row 4: Hdc the length of the holder. Sc into the top of the nearest
sc of the elastic ring and again into the next sc after that. Turn.

Row 5: Hdc the length of the holder. This time, instead of turning,
sc across the end of the holder to the original ch (row 1) side.

Final row: Hdc down the length of the holder along the original long
chain (row 1). This final row makes a nice finished edge.

Cut yarn leaving a 4-inch
tail.

Using your tapestry needle,
secure loose yarn ends.

Daisy flower:

Using a 6-inch starting tail
(15 cm), make a magic loop or chain enough stitches for a tight fitting button
hole to accommodate the button you selected. If you use a similar button size
to the ones in the first photo, you will want to start with 8 ch sts to make a loop, if you are not doing the magic loop method.

Row 1: Sc 18 sts around the loop.

Petals: You will be making 6
petals working in the BACK loops of the sc row.

First st, ch 2 to serve as
the first hdc, hdc, dc (2) in the nearest st.

Second st: dc (2), hdc (2).

Third st: sl st.

Fourth st: hdc (2), dc (2).

Fifth st: dc (2), hdc (2).

Sixth st: sl st.

Repeat Fourth­ through Sixth
st sequence around to make 5 more petals (total of 6 petals).

Leaving a 6-inch (15 cm)
tail, cut yarn.

Button: Refer to the photo
below to show the placement of the button. Somewhat loosely, sew your button to
the towel holder using embroidery thread. When sewn, make a shank on the
backside of the button by wrapping the embroidery thread around and around a few times and
then securing your thread. The shank will make the button fit better into the
daisy and reduce the likelihood of it popping off in the future.

Again referring to the same
photo and using your tapestry needle, attach the daisy to the towel
holder using the yarn ends. Secure ends in place. All done!

Isn’t this a fast and
fun little extra to give along with a dishcloth or potholder? As an
example, this towel holder pairs perfectly with the Gingham and Daisy
potholders on this blog. (May 2012)

Photo below: Daisy towel holder with matching knitted dishcloth.

You are welcome to make, use, sell, or give as many of these daisy towel holders as you please. I just ask that you refrain from claiming the pattern as your own or selling it. It is a copyrighted property.

There is a picture of the ponytail elastics I used above in this post. They were the thickest I could find, not quite as thick as a pencil. Thick is best. If you can't find some like these, put two of a thinner kind together. Also, these are not expensive, probably under $2 for a whole package.

This is really cute but for some reason I don't understand row 2 You just sc twice than turn do you go back up the chain you made? Why don't you go all the way around the circle. Sorry but having a brain freeze.